Every Day I'm Going Green

This Earth Day, there’s a way to go green that’s convenient, easy, and actually helpful to people as well as the planet. All it takes is a smart use of apps for your phones, then disposing of the devices properly when they’re dead and obsolete.

There are a variety of apps for smart phones and tablets that are designed to help users be eco-friendly. For example, the Good Guide app has ratings for more than 170,000 products, which indicate whether a product is safe, healthy, and socially responsible, as well as its impact on the environment.

For those who want to reduce their carbon footprint, there’s the Light Bulb Finder. It helps compare costs and environment impacts of different lightbulbs, in order to help find ones that are affordable and fit the owner’s electric needs. After determining the best brand, it can also help locate the closest place to buy them.

Of course, recycling is important too. That’s why the iRecycle app helps locate all nearby recycling locations, including items that take specialized recycling, such as batteries and cell phones. Speaking of, be sure to recycle your smart phone properly once it’s done for, rather than just haphazardly throwing it away.

If you want to help support businesses that are environmentally friendly, there’s an app for that too. The National Green Pages app lists thousands of businesses that are committedly to not only global sustainability, but are also socially aware; this includes organic farms, cruelty-free products, and companies that don’t use sweatshop labor.

If you need any more tips on going green, just use the EcoTips app. It lets users download widgets that provide recycling tips, so users can make their lives more eco-friendly.

Naturally, all of these are suggestions, but good ones to keep in mind. It’s no hassle or inconvenience to take a little extra effort for a lot of environmental sustainability, so one can go green without it getting in the way of their everyday lives and activities.